The police on Tuesday (24) detained three journalists attached to the Capital Maharaja Organisation Limited who unlawfully entered into the Derana Head Office in T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10, Ada Derana alleged.

Derana administration summoned the police as the journalists entered into the office without a prior permission and clandestinely attempted to video-record the incident, Ada Derana said.   

A cameraman and two journalists who unlawfully entered the office claimed that they required obtaining a response to a news item which was telecasted by Ada Derana on Monday (24), Ada Derana claimed.

However, News First stated that they wanted to give a chance for Derana to respond on a news item which caused a dispute between the two sides.

"We attempted to contact Shehan Baranage who is the Head of News at TV Derana on a number of occasions, in-order to obtain a response regarding the news item. He did not respond. As a result of this our journalists visited the Derana office in-order to obtain a statement” News First claimed.

“Our intention was to give TV Derana a fair opportunity to respond. While our reporters have been forcefully detained by employees of TV Derana, they are being threatened as well. The camera equipment being used by our journalists have also been taken away" News First stated.

The disputed news item on TV Derana claimed that a property at Echelon Square in Colombo Fort, opposite the World Trade Center, which sparked controversy recently over an ownership dispute, does not belong to the Capital Maharaja Organisation Limited.

However, Capital Maharaja Organization claimed that it was a property owned by the company.